1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a recoil starter, wherein a recoil rope is pulled to rotate a rope reel so that a rotation of the rope reel is transmitted to a drive pulley coupled to a crankshaft of an engine via a clutch mechanism such as a centrifugal clutch to thereby rotate the drive pulley, resulting in the engine being started.
2. Description of the Related Art
Among recoil starters where a rope reel is rotated by pulling a recoil rope wound around the rope reel, and a rotation of a cam rotated by a rotation of the rope reel is transmitted to a rotating member such as a flywheel magnet or a drive pulley that is coupled to a crankshaft of an engine via a clutch mechanism such as a centrifugal clutch, so that the crankshaft of the engine is rotated to start the engine, a recoil starter is known which is so constructed that a cushioning and force accumulating means is disposed between the rope reel and the cam so as to prevent shock due to abrupt load fluctuations on the engine side from being transmitted to the rope reel side and so as to facilitate starting of the engine by accumulating a rotational force of the rope reel in the cushioning and force accumulating means and releasing the rotational force accumulated in the cushioning and force accumulating means (see, e.g., Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2001-132591).
In this conventional recoil starter, the rope reel rotated by pulling the recoil rope, the cam that transmits the rotation to the drive pulley coupled to the crankshaft of the engine via the clutch mechanism and a spring case that houses a spring as the cushioning and force accumulating means are each rotatably supported by a shaft formed within a casing. Additionally, a one-way ratchet mechanism is provided between the rope reel and the spring case such that the rotation of the rope reel in an engine starting direction is transmitted to the spring case. When the rope reel is rotated by pulling the recoil rope, the spring case is rotated together via the one-way ratchet mechanism, transmitting the rotation of the rope reel to the drive pulley via the spring case. When the drive pulley stops rotating due to a starting resistance of the engine, a rotational force of the rope reel is accumulated in the spring. Further, a one-way clutch is provided between the shaft and the spring case to prevent rotation of the spring case in the opposite direction.
In this conventional recoil starter, the spring case housing the cushioning and force accumulating means or spring, the rope reel around which the recoil rope is wound and the drive pulley for transmitting the rotational force to the crankshaft of the engine are each supported by the shaft within the casing; the one-way ratchet mechanism is provided between the rope reel and the spring case so as to transmit the rotation of the rope reel in the engine starting direction to the spring case; and the one-way clutch is provided between the spring case and the shaft to allow rotation of the spring case only in the engine starting direction, with the result that the manufacturing costs of the recoil starter are increased due to a large number of components required and a complex configuration of the components and a reduction in size and weight of the recoil starter is precluded due to large outer dimensions of the recoil starter, and particularly axial dimensions thereof.